"At our meeting against Local Body Tax (LBT) with presidents of traders' associations from 24 municipal corporations, it has been decided to launch an indefinite trade bandh across the state from Wednesday," FAM president Mohan Gurnani told PTI here.

Wholesale and retail traders from from Mumbai, Thane and Nagpur have been on an indefinite strike since last fortnight in protest against imposition of LBT.

"The chief minister (Mamata Banerjee) has assured me that no political interference will be allowed in the Presidency University," the varsity Mentor Group chairman Sugata Bose told reporters here after a meeting with the CM.

Presidency University had witnessed vandalism allegedly by Trinamool Congress workers on April 10 which had left many students injured and the ruling party and opposition trading charges against each other for it.

23:13China sends large fleet to disputed islands: Media:
China has sent one of its largest recorded fishing fleets to disputed islands in the South China Sea, state-run media said today, amid tensions over Beijing's assertion of its claims in the region.

A flotilla including 30 fishing vessels set sail yesterday for the Spratly Islands, an archipelago disputed between China and other countries including Vietnam and the Philippines, the China Daily reported.

The fleet left China's southern province of Hainan for a 40-day trip to the region, the report said, and includes two large transport and supply ships.

"He is not even a relative, much less a nephew. There is no question of any relations with him," Bansal said. Garg was today arrested after he surrendered before a Delhi court, which remanded him in CBI custody till May 9.

The court allowed the custodial interrogation of Garg who surrendered before the court after "coming to know through media reports that the CBI is searching for him in the alleged bribery case."

Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, chief of key UPA ally -- the
Nationalist Congress Party -- has taken up the mantle of mediator.
Once opposed to the food bill himself, Pawar has reportedly reached
out to the Left and the BJP and is trying to work out a compromise and
get the bill through.

She searched for her phone while peeking under desks and also sought help from the security personnel.

Janata Party leader Dr Subramanian Swamy asked her cheekily if she has searched Congress ministers Pawan Bansal and Ashwani Kumar.

The high drama ended when a security man found the phone and returned it to Scindia.

21:11Antony, Ravi discuss fate of Bansal, Kumar:A correspondent from Delhi reports: Defence Minister A K Antony spent a lot of time in Parliament's Central Hall on Tuesday. He was seen talking to Kerala Congress Members of Parliament.

21:09Congress plots revenge on BJP CMs: Gossip in Delhi's political corridors suggests that the UPA, under fire over numerous corruption cases, wants to extract revenge by exposing scams about chief ministers belonging to main opposition party BJP.

Alert BJP MPs are now trying to find out which central agency -- the CBI, CBI, ED, CBDT -- will be tasked to conduct raids on these CMs.

20:42Dislodge Congress-NCP govt in Maharashtra: BJP : Assuring BJP workers that 2014 will be "our year", Maharashtra unit president Devendra Fadnavis today asked them to prepare for a battle to dislodge the Congress-NCP government in Maharashtra.

"No compromise. There will be no compromise. We will adopt the path of sangharsh (struggle) and shun the politics of tadjod (compromise)," Fadnavis said.

She also told him that there would be no political interference in the issue.

"We had demanded an impartial investigation into the unfortunate incident. The chief minister assured me that an impartial probe will be conducted into that incident," Bose said.

19:35Ashwani exchanges a few words with Sonia:A correspondent reports from Delhi: Beleaguered Law Minister Ashwani Kumar was seen escorting Congress President Sonia Gandhi from the Central Hall of Parliament to the main gate.

As SPG guards enveloped the Congress president, Kumar managed to get in a few words, while fellow party leader Rajiv Shukla also competed for Gandhi's attention.

But neither of them could match Gandhi's brisk pace.

19:31MPs vote for Parliament's finance panels:A correspondent reports from Delhi: The Central Hall on Tuesday witnessed the presence of a number of MPs from the Congress, the BJP and the Left parties.

The MPs had not flocked to Parliament due to party whips.

They were there to vote in the election of Parliamentarians to finance committees like the Public Accounts Committee and the Committee on Public Undertakings.

19:29Pawar brings grandchildren to Parliament:A correspondent reports from Delhi: Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar was seen introducing his son-in-law Sadanand Sule and his grandchildren to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Parliament on Tuesday.

Dr Singh duly inquired about which schools Pawar's grandchildren attended and about their academic progression.

19:25Another Union minister involved in 2G scam?: The Central Hall in Parliament was abuzz about a 300-page letter by a Supreme Court advocate about a senior Union minister, addressed to Joint Parliamentary Committee chief P C Chacko, and the 2G scam.

The letter talked about how the concerned minister helped a private TV channel amass wealth. Interestingly, the letter has been in the public domain and the petitioner was dubbed a mentally disabled legal luminary.

19:21Will stall Rajya Sabha, says BJP, AIADMK:A correspondent reports from Delhi: BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad and AIADMK Leader Dr V Maitreyan on Tuesday threatened to stall the proceedings of the Rajya Sabha if the government tried to push through either the Right to Food Bill or the Land Reforms Bill.

Parvathy was there to attend the unveiling of the statue of N T Rama Rao by Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar.

It is a known fact that Telugu Desam Party chief and NTR's son-in-law Chandrababu Naidu and Lakshmi Parvathy do not get along.

19:14Sonia reaches out to Sushma, but cameras missing!:A correspondent reports from Delhi: Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday reached out to BJP leader Sushma Swaraj; she was seen walking with one hand on the latter's shoulder in Central Hall of Parliament.

Since cameras are not permitted at the venue, the perfect moment for a photo-op was captured by some enthusiastic Parliamentarians on their mobile phones.

The Special Protection Group urged the MPs not to telecast or circulate the footage due to security concerns.

"A case of cheating has been registered against Gopaldas Bhojwani and his two sons Mukesh and Naresh on the complain filed by Shaival Reality Pvt Ltd director Naresh Patel. Further investigation is going on," said Senior Inspector Ashok Pandya.

Another director of Shaival Reality is Dr Mayur Desai, who is the son-in-law of former BJP chief minister Keshubhai Patel, who parted ways with Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and formed the Gujarat Parivartan Party.

19:01Guj govt opposes minority scholarship scheme in SC: The Supreme Court on Tuesday did not give any interim relief to the Gujarat government on its plea opposing the Centre's pre-matriculation scholarship scheme for students of minority communities.

The apex court decided to give an early hearing to the state government's appeal challenging the Gujarat high court verdict upholding its constitutional validity.

In a joint pilot test conducted recently by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and CISF at Rajiv Chowk Metro station in central Delhi, use of alcometers were found to be successful in detecting drunk passengers, an official said.

Alcometer is a device to detect alcohol consumption by analysing breath. "It was found that some passengers who came to the Metro stations drunk claimed that they are on medication and hence they are smelling of alcohol. DMRC gave us few alcometers for testing and it was found successful," a CISF official said.

17:41Lalu would not have taken Gujarat CM's courtsey call: Modi:
Senior BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi today claimed that the RJD supremo Lalu Prasad would not have received the telephone call of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi had he known about the identity of the caller in advance.

"Prasad would not have taken Modi's phone call to enquire about his health if he had known in advance that it was the Gujarat Chief Minister who would be speaking to him," Sushil Modi told reporters.

"The injured RJD supremo thought that it was I who had called him to enquire about his health and not the other Modi," the Deputy Chief Minister claimed. "I did speak to him later in the day on Saturday and found out about his condition," Modi said.

17:22Apex court blow to AICTE: Pvt colleges slip out of control: Private colleges will no longer require permission of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to conduct MBA and MCA courses, ruled the Supreme Court on Thursday. This could, yet again, lead to mushrooming of colleges vying to offer these lucrative courses. More

17:08Sonia hugs Sushma in Central Hall, Parl logjam may end : CNN IBN reports that the Congress is in back-channel talks with the BJP to ensure that the Parliament logjam ends and the Food Security Bill is passed. Sonia apparently met Sushma Swaraj in the Central Hall of Parliament and hugged her. The BJP has deputed Anant Kumar to head the back channel talks. So far, Anant Kumar has spoken to NCP chief Sharad Pawar, a key ally of the Congress, who has spoken to the PM. Pawar also met SP leaders urging that the Food Security Bill be passed.

If BJP agrees to attend, the government will call and all-party meeting headed by the prime minister, and sort out the issue. The BJP raised a ruckus in Parliament today asking for the resignation of the PM and the two tainted minsiters -- Ashwani Kumar and PK Bansal.

16:56Overcrowded Tihar pins all hopes on Mandoli jail: Asia's largest prison at Tihar is bursting at the seams. Its official capacity is 6,250 prisoners but it has been forced to keep more than 13,000 inmates leading to many complications. Delhi Prisons Authorities are hoping that the commissioning of Mandoli jail in the near future will solve the problem of overcrowding. Read

16:51 The four accused in the railway bribery case -- Vivek Kumar, Dharmendra, Rahul Yadav and Samir Sandhir -- have been sent to 14-day judicial custody by a Delhi court.

16:28Attacked Pakistani prisoner sinks further, has jaundice:
The condition of Pakistan prisoner Sanauallah Haq has deteriorated. He is reportedly suffering from jaundice. Two members of his family prisoner saw min at the Chandigarh hospital where he was admitted after being attacked in a Jammu jail. Haq's relatives - brother-in-law Mohammed Sehzaad and nephew Mohammed Asif - are on a 15 day visa, and were received by the officials of Pakistani High Commission at the Attari border.

Haq's relatives urged the Indian government to release him so that they could take him back to Pakistan. The prisoner, meanwhile, continues to be "critically sick" and in "deep coma", a medical bulletin issued by PGIMER said.

Some of these polls have put the Congress tally in the 224-member House at anywhere between 110 and 132, with the ruling BJP a distant loser; 113 seats would be required for majority. Now, the recurrent question being asked is if there will be a situation where the Congress falls short of numbers. Some leaders of Karnataka Janatha Paksha (KJP) of former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa have said in private that the party is ready to support a Congress government,if it comes to that.

CBI sources said here today that the agency is likely to wait till the court pronounces its verdict on the quantum of sentence for those found guilty in the case.

District and Sessions Judge J R Aryan had on April 30 acquitted Kumar in the 29-year-old case in which he was accused of murder and of instigating a riotous mob that killed five Sikhs in Delhi's cantonment area.

Five others -- Balwan Khokkar, an ex-councillor, Mahender Yadav, an ex-MLA, Kishan Khokkar, Girdhari Lal and Captain Bhagmal -- were convicted for their involvement in the riots that had broken out after the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984.

15:58Young, Urban, Educatedand Choosing Not to Vote: Karnataka, which has 43.6 million registered voters, and its capital, Bangalore, voted to elect a new government, and results will be in later in the week. While the rest of the state recorded a 70 percent turnout, in the country's startup and technology hub of Bangalore, which has 7 million registered voters, only one in two voters turned up at the polling booth. Read

15:52 BJP remains adamant on dismissal of Ashwani Kumar, Bansal: The BJP Parliamentary Party, which met in Delhi today said that it would support the government in passing the Food
Security Bill 2011 and the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and
Resettlement Bill 2011 provided Union Law and Justice Minister Ashwani
Kumar and Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal are asked to step down
from their respective offices.

BJP leader Gopinath Munde said the main opposition party would allow
the passage of Food Security Bill and the Land Acquisition,
Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill after the resignation of Bansal and
Kumar.

15:32The Human Cost of Stalemate in Parliament: How many people in India could die of hunger because of Parliament's failure to pass a national food security law? That's the question Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen wants answered. Read

Minister of State for Home RPN Singh said as per reports available, the improvised grenades are manufactured by CPI (Maoist) in their stronghold areas of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Bihar.

He said some of the steps taken to bust these manufacturing units include ban on CPI(Maoist), deployment of forces at strategic locations, firm police action against such unlawful activities and intensified intelligence-based anti-Naxal operations.

"Besides, the central government closely monitors the situation and issues advisories to the Left Wing Extremism- affected state governments to keep a check on such activities," he said.

15:1731 women found abandoned in Metro, rly stations in Delhi: Govt: Thirty one women were found abandoned at Metro and railway stations in the capital this year, the government said today. According to Minister of State for Home Affairs Mullapally Ramachandran, a total of 164 women were found abandoned in such facilities in the capital during the period between 2011 and April 30, 2013. While 31 were found till April this year, 73 women were found abandoned last year and 60 in 2011, he said in a written reply in Lok Sabha.

15:05 The court will pronounce the order on Ajay Garg's surrender application at 4 pm.

15:04Bribery case: Bansal's nephew Ajay Garg surrenders :
Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal's nephew Ajay Garg a close aide of his other nephew, Vijay Singla, reaches the Delhi court to surrender. Garg was questioned in Chandigarh today. CBI investigators had launched a massive manhunt to nab Garg after questioning Singla in the bribery case. Garg owns a multi-crore company which supplies electrical goods to the railways.

The CBI on Friday had arrested the nephew of the Railway Minister for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 90 lakh to fix a top railway appointment.he CBI on Friday had arrested the nephew of the Railway Minister for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 90 lakh to fix a top railway appointment.

14:24Queen to miss Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka : Buckingham Palace confirmed the decision is part of a move to review the long haul travel currently undertaken by the Queen, who is now 87. The palace confirmed the Prince of Wales will go to the meeting, which takes place every two years, in her place. Read

14:20Am I an Immigrant Writer?:
Amit Majumdar writes: I learned recently, to my surprise, that I had written a novel about the immigrant experience. The novel I thought I'd written was simply about a mother and daughter, but the inside flap of the book jacket made it clear I had "written anew the immigrant experience.' Read more

14:16Thrashed Pak prisoner's relatives reach Amritsar :
Two members of the family of Pakistani prisoner Sanaullah Ranjay, who got critically injured in a scuffle with another inmate in a Jammu jail, arrived in Amritsar via the Wagah-Attari border.

According to television reports, the relatives, who are on a 15 day visa, were received by the officials of Pakistan High Commission at the Attari border.

Till Monday evening, Sanaullah continued to be "critically sick" and in "deep coma", said a medical bulletin from Chandigarh''s Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER). Pakistan High Commissioner Salman Bashir visited Sanaullah at the hospital yesterday and said his chances of survival seemed bleak.

Demanding an impartial probe into the attack on Sanaullah, Bashir said, "We want him to be repatriated to Pakistan." However, India on Monday said the Pakistani prisoner's medical condition is such that it does not permit any movement.

"My understanding is that the doctors had examined the condition of the Pakistani prisoner Sanaullah Ranjay and they felt his condition is such that it does not permit any movement. So, medical condition is such that it precludes any movement of the prisoner," MEA official spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said.

13:51CBI questions another nephew of Bansal : The CBI has begun questioning Ajay Garg, another nephew of railway minister Pawan Bansal, who was reportedly present along with Vijay Singla and Sandeep Goyal when the bribe amount of Rs 90 lakh was being delivered in the 'jobs for sale' scandal. Garg has been named by the CBI in its FIR and is said to be the main link in the scandal. Garg is being questioned in Chandigarh.

13:44An empty grave awaits remains of the last Mughal emperor: In a marble enclosure adjoining the dargah of Sufi saint Khwaja Bakhtiar Kaki at Mehrauli, an empty grave or 'Sardgah' marks the site where Bahadur Shah Zafar had willed to be buried alongside his Mughal predecessors. Yet, the late emperor died when he was in exile in Yangon where he was transported to be lodged in a junior British officer's garage and his remains continue to be across the border in Myanmar till today. Read

13:36SRK won't go to Wankhede, wants KKR to focus on game: Shah Rukh Khan will not attend the KKR game at Wankhede today, he doesn't want his team to be distracted. That's settled the issue. The Maharashtra Congress wanted MCA to rethink their five-year ban on the actor after the brawl last year.

13:34Security guard who took on SRK will be absent :
Vikas Dalvi, the security guard of the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) who dared to stop Shah Rukh Khan from entering the Wankhede Stadium during the last IPL season, will not be on duty for the Mumbai Indians versus Kolkata Knight Riders match today. Read

13:08Cong core group meeting ends : The Congress core group meeting has ended. The PM does not want either Ashwani Kumar or PK Bansal to resign, nor will Parliament be adjourned sine die. The party will also make fresh attempts to get the Food Security Bill passed.

12:54 After the House was adjourned, top leaders of BJP, CPI(M) and some other parties were seen huddled together in some serious discussion. Even Trinamool Congress leader Sougata Roy was seen talking to BJP leaders. However, it could not be known what was being discussed.

12:51How Ram lost his Tej:
In other stories: Bodyguards of actor Ram Charan Tej, son of Union Minister Chiranjeevi, assaulting software engineers for reportedly not giving way to the actor's Aston Martin at a free left turn near a traffic junction in Banjara Hills on Sunday afternoon. See

12:46Maharashtra Cong asks MCA to allow SRK in Wankhede : The Maharashtra Congress has requested the Mumbai Cricket Association to lift the five-year ban imposed on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) owner Shah Rukh Khan. The MCA has said that the band imposed last year stands and he will not be able to attend his team's IPL match against hosts Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai today. The Mumbai police says allowing Shah Rukh Khan into Wankhede stadium is an internal matter of the MCA.

The Bollywood super star was banned for five years from entering MCA premises, including the Wankhede Stadium, by the Association's Managing Committee, headed by the late Vilasrao Deshmukh, on May 18 last year after he was involved in a skirmish with security staff and officials of the cricket body following KKR's victory over Mumbai Indians two nights earlier.

Khan, however, denied he had misbehaved and maintained he reacted only after children, including his kids, were "manhandled" by the security staff at the stadium.

12:15Why is the Pakistan election so important?: On May 11, as Pakistan makes first ever democratic transition in its entire history it is not only momentous for the embattled country but also extremely significant for India. What is it that is up for change and what are the openings for India are to be grasped quickly to replace the language of conflict with gestures of cooperation. Read

12:08 And Rajya Sabha has been adjourned till 2 pm. Both the houses want the PM to resign.

12:06 Both houses of Parliament have resumed at noon, after the first adjournment and Lok Sabha pips Rajya Sabha in the adjournment stakes. LS has been adjourned till 1 pm.

Amid uproar over several scams, government today sprang a surprise over the Opposition in the Lok Sabha by taking up the ambitious National Food Security Bill for consideration despite protests. The Parliament was adjourned today over the same issue.

Yesterday, a brief debate was held amid an unprecedented din with members from Left and Right in the Well denouncing "dictatorial ways" of the government in pushing through the much talked about legislation when Parliament is paralysed over various scams. BJP members were joined by Left members in denouncing the Congress-led coalition.

11:35Jammu: BSF foils infiltration bid in Samba sector: Border Security Force (BSF) troopers foiled an infiltration bid from Pakistan at Samba sector of the border near Jammu on early Monday, an official said. Troopers guarding the Ballad border post, about 55 km from Jammu, noticed some movement around 5am and opened fire to challenge a group of people trying to infiltrate across the border into India.

"Our troops opened fire to challenge them. The firing went on from 5.10am to 5.35am," the official said.The infiltrators were pushed back into Pakistani territory and an extensive search operation was launched for any person who might have sneaked in, the official said. Read

"The temperatures have gone up to three degrees above normal in most regions. Uttar Pradesh is right now the hottest in North India. Within a week East UP is likely to experience a heat wave," IMD official M Duraiswamy was quoted as saying on Tuesday. The Met Department further informed that Rajasthan has been the hottest in this season, with Churu recording a maximum of 45 degrees Celsius.

11:25Salman NGO to send tankers to drought-hit Marathwada: Actor Salman Khan has joined the list of celebrities and politicians who are doing their bit to supply drinking water to Maharashtra's drought-hit Marathwada region. Khan has undertaken to supply 2,500 tankers of water to Aurangabad and other towns in the region that are reeling under one of the worst droughts the state has ever faced, through his non-profit organisation Being Human. Read more

11:20 JEE results expected at 4pm: Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) 2013 scores are expected to be declared at 4 pm today. Conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education, JEE (Main) 2013 scores will determine admission to the National Institutes of Technology (NIT) and the Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIIT) and other deemed Universities. Candiates can check their scores on the website www.jeemain.nic.in.

11:10Attacked Pak prisoner's family arriving in India:
Two members of the family of Pakistani prisoner Sanaullah Haq, who is in a Chandigarh hospital after being attacked in a Jammu jail, are coming to India Tuesday to meet him, Pakistani officials said in New Delhi.

The two family members would arrive in Chandigarh via the Wagah-Attari border, the Pakistan high commission said in a statement.Sanaullah, who was undergoing imprisonment at Jammu's Kot Bhalwal Jail, was attacked Friday by an Indian prisoner.

The Pakistani was flown from Jammu to Chandigarh for treatment.He was admitted at the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) in Chandigarh.Till Monday evening, Sanaullah continued to be "critically sick" and in "deep coma", a medical bulletin said.

The attack took place a day after Sarabjit Singh, an Indian prisoner in Pakistan, succumbed to grievous injuries following a murderous assault in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat Jail.

11:05Parliament adjourned till noon: The opposition stalls the Parliament again. Rajya Sabha has been adjourned till noon after the BJP raised a ruckus -- they want the PM, law minister Ashwani Kumar and rail minister Pawan Kumar Bansal to quit. Lok Sabha has just been adjourned as well.

11:03How India played hardball with China: After initial diffidence and a sense of confusion, India had to play diplomatic hardball to get China to withdraw its troops from Depsang Bulge in eastern Ladakh, which officials claimed was secured without giving any concessions to China, even though New Delhi has agreed to bring down a structure that was erected as "retaliation" to the Chinese incursion. Read

10:50Work in progress: It took several flag meetings on the ground and much diplomatic energy on both sides but the abatement of tension near the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh came not a day too soon. The Chinese troops who had set up tented positions around Daulat Beg Oldi inside Indian territory some three weeks ago have withdrawn; Indian troops who pitched their tents in response to this provocation have also withdrawn. Read

10:49Border breach sets up Indian turf war : The Chinese army exploited "glaring deficiencies' in the pattern of deployment by Indian forces in eastern Ladakh to get inside Indian territory and set up a camp before dismantling it yesterday, according to a post-mortem in the defence establishment. Read the full story

Brokers said the sentiment remained firm on sustained buying on hopes of encouraging IIP data for March to be released later this week and a mixed trend in the Asian trade.

In the Asian region, Japan's Nikkei gained 0.28 per cent to trade at nearly five-year high, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell by 0.14 per cent in early trade today. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average, however, ended 0.03 per cent lower in yesterday's trade

Even as Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal continued to be under scanner in connection with the alleged bribery scandal involving his nephew Vijay Singla, CBI sources have said that the agency was looking into the possibility of involvement of Railway Ministry officials in the scam.

CBI sources said Bansal's senior personal staff could be called in for questioning over the next several days.

The agency will try to find out answers to some questions related to the posting of suspended Railway Board member (staff) Mahesh Kumar.

A leading English daily reported on Tuesday that the CBI is questioning Singla and his associates to find out "the authority" which would have promoted Kumar.

Singla is reported to have spoken to an officer in Bansal's office over phone during the period when Kumar, a senior railway official, was allegedly discussing paying a bribe of Rs 10 crore to change his discipline from Member (staff) to Member (Electrical) and allow him to continue with additional charge of GM (West).

The Mumbai Cricket Association has informed a local police station to prevent Kolkata Knight Riders principal owner Shah Rukh from entering the stadium, when his team takes on Mumbai Indians, in the city on Tuesday.

"We wrote a letter to Marine Lines police station asking them not to allow Shah Rukh Khan inside the stadium on Tuesday (when Kolkata Knight Riders play Mumbai Indians). This was after the police had asked us to send a letter to that effect," MCA president Ravi Savant told reporters.

The Bollywood superstar was banned for five years from entering MCA premises, including the Wankhede Stadium, by the Association's Managing Committee, headed by the late Vilasrao Deshmukh, on May 18 last year, after he was involved in a skirmish with security staff and officials of the cricket body following KKR's victory over MI two nights earlier.

Shah Rukh, however, denied he had misbehaved and maintained he reacted only after children, including his kids, were "manhandled" by the security staff at the stadium.

The special CBI court hearing the Aarushi-Hemraj murder case will record statements of the dentist couple Rajesh and Nupur Talwar on Tuesday.

Special CBI judge Shyam Lal rejected the defence counsel's plea, which demanded that 13 other witnesses including ADG (law and order) and the then CBI Joint Director Arun Kumar also be called to record statements.

The court rejected defence plea and ordered to record the statements of the Talwar couple, who are the main accused.

Statement of CBI investigating officer AGL Kaul, the last prosecution witness, has already been recorded.

The CBI had told the court that teenager Aarushi Talwar's murder five years back was carried out by her parents Rajesh and Nupur Talwar and no outsider was present.

In his deposition before the Additional Judge, Kaul, who headed the CBI probe, had told the court that their investigations revealed no evidence of any third person's entry in the house.

Delhi Police on Monday night issued an advisory asking motorists to avoid Rafi Marg, near Vijay Chowk, as it will remain closed for public from Tuesday due to the VVIP movement near Parliament.

According to the traffic advisory, police said general traffic, including buses, shall not be allowed to ply on Rafi Marg between round abouts of Sunehri Masjid and Rail Bhawan.

"Due to ongoing parliament session, large number of VVIPs/motorists are visiting Vijay Chowk, Parliament House, Rafi Marg and surrounding areas. Section 144 CrPC has been imposed. Rafi Marg has been closed from 7th May onwards," Anil Shukla, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic), said in the advisory.

Motorists are advised to follow Janpath and Mansingh Road to cross Rajpath from North to South and South to North, he said.

General public are advised to avoid the above mentioned routes and co-operate with and follow the directions of the traffic policemen to avoid inconvenience, he said.

The advisory came hours after Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said he has asked Delhi Lt Governor Tejinder Khanna to seek a report from Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar on how Sikhs protesting the acquittal of Congress leader Sajjan Kumar managed to reach near Vijay Chowk and block traffic.

03:31Border tensions between India and China remain: Pentagon: In light of the recent Chinese incursion in Ladakh, the Pentagon today informed the US Congress that tensions remain between India and China on their long border while noting that Beijing's use of force in territorial disputes has varied throughout its history.

"Despite increased political and economic relations over the years between China and India, tensions remain along their shared 4,057 km border, most notably over Arunachal Pradesh (which China asserts is part of Tibet, and therefore of China), and over the Aksai Chin region at the western end of the Tibetan Plateau," the Pentagon told the Congress in its annual report on China.

03:30Boston bombing suspect's friend to be released: A magistrate judge today agreed to release a friend of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev from federal custody while he awaits trial for allegedly lying to federal investigators probing the bombings.

Robel Phillipos, 19, was charged last week with lying to investigators about visiting Tsarnaev's college dorm room after the bombings. The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth student faces a maximum of eight years in prison if convicted.

"Today I can say in all confidence that Tamerlan and Dzhokhar (Tsarnaev) are real-life devils -- complete devils," Interfax quoted Kadyrov as telling reporters in Chechnya. "Tamerlan, thank god, was killed," he said. "Dzhokhar has been detained. Otherwise, they could have brought grief to the families of completely innocent people."

A spokesman for Spain's Defense Ministry said the pilot, Ladislao Tejedor Romero, 35, an experienced jet pilot and assistant to Defense Minister Pedro Morenes, died of his injuries in the serious burns unit of Getafe hospital.

51-year-old Nicholas Milligan, his 39-year-old wife, a four-year-old boy and two girls aged 10 and 12 were airlifted to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth with a range of injuries, some of which Superintendent Jim Colwell of Devon and Cornwall Police described as "life threatening" as well as "life changing".

02:08Alleged Auschwitz death camp guard arrested: A 93-year-old man who was deported from the U.S. for lying about his Nazi past was arrested by German authorities Monday on allegations he served as an Auschwitz death camp guard, Stuttgart prosecutors said.

Hans Lipschis was taken into custody after authorities concluded there was "compelling evidence" he was involved in crimes at Auschwitz while there from 1941 to 1945, prosecutor Claudia Krauth said.

01:53Nigerian military jet crashes killing 2: A Nigerian military jet crashed killing two crew in Niger republic while fighting against al-Qaeda-linked insurgents in northern Mali today. Nigerian troops are the largest among the West African regional force in the country divided by militants in the north who were stopped from taking over the capital by French forces who started an armed campaign on January 11.

"The crashed plane is an Alpha jet supporting the mission in Mali but stationed in Niger," Nigerian Air Force spokesman, Air Commodore Yusuf Anas said adding that a probe has commenced to find out the actual cause of the incident which took place about 60 km west of Niger capital, Niamey.

01:18Bangladesh violence worsens, 37 killed:
The death toll in the raging violence in Bangladesh shot up to 37 as marauding members of a radical Islamic outfit demanding a tougher blasphemy law clashed with police near the capital city, prompting a ban on public rallies and two right-wing TV channels.

The newly-floated Hefazat-e-Islam or 'Protectorate of Islam' enforced its "Dhaka siege" programme yesterday to mount pressure on the secular Awami League-led government to implement their 13-point demand, including the enactment of a blasphemy law to punish those who insult Islam and its Prophet.

00:26Bangladesh building collapse toll hits 675: Bangladeshi police are investigating possible murder charges against the owner of a shoddily built factory that collapsed nearly two weeks ago after the wife of a garment worker crushed in the accident filed a complaint.

The development comes as officials said today that the death toll from the country's worst industrial disaster had reached 675.

Sheuli Akter, the wife of Jahangir Alam, filed the complaint with Dhaka magistrate Wasim Sheikh, saying her husband and other workers were "pushed toward death" by building owner Mohammed Sohel Rana and two others.

The petition launched by Guantanamo's former chief military prosecutor Colonel Morris Davis has been signed by more than 145,500 people for the president to bring some kind of closure to the fate of the terror suspects at the US prison on the eastern tip of Cuba.

At Guantanamo prison, the men in indefinite detention seek to draw attention to an unprecedented hunger strike nearly two-thirds of them are waging. Today, the stir enters its fourth month with prison officials saying that 100 of the "war on terror" detainees were observing the strike, out of a total of 166.

00:20FBI says 'terror attack' thwarted in rural Minnesota: The FBI today said it has thwarted a terror attack in a small town in Minnesota after discovering home-made bombs and guns in the home of a local man. The agency provided few details, saying the investigation into Buford 'Bucky' Rogers, 24, was "ongoing".

"The FBI believes that a terror attack was disrupted by law enforcement personnel and that the lives of several local residents were potentially saved," the agency said in a statement.

UN human rights investigator Carla del Ponte, meanwhile, said that rebels have used the deadly nerve agent sarin in their fight to oust Syria's regime, although inspectors later said there was no conclusive proof as yet.

"At least 42 soldiers were killed in the strikes, and another 100 who would usually be at the targeted sites remain unaccounted for," Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

00:14Italy's Ex-Premier Giulio Andreotti Dies at 94: Giulio Andreotti was one of postwar Italy's most powerful men: He helped draft the country's constitution after World War II, served as its premier seven times and spent 60 years in parliament.

But the Christian Democrat who was friends with popes and cardinals was also a controversial figure who survived corruption scandals and allegations of aiding the Mafia: Andreotti was accused of exchanging a "kiss of honor" with the mob's longtime No. 1 boss and indicted in what was called "the trial of the century" in Palermo. He was eventually cleared.